REDD+

In this week’s column I shall temporarily digress from my originally intended topic, which was to continue the discussion centred on the fuzziness in the LCDS and other related official documents about the size of the total forest area that is being pledged under the strategy, as well as that...

The UN-REDD Programme Policy Board met for its fourth meeting from 18-19 March 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya, and approved US$14.7 million in funding for national UN-REDD programmes in Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. This decision brings the total amount of funding for UN-REDD...

The furore surrounding the statement issued by a conference of Amerindian leaders on land rights is, in the opinion of the Guyana Human Rights Association, misplaced and unhelpful. The sensitivity manifest by the supporters of  the LCDS and REDD+, is uncalled for, the GHRA said in a statement...

A lack of money hinders the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC) from holding further consultations in Amerindian communities about government’s forest preservation strategies, the organisation’s head, Yvonne Pearson says.

The Jakarta Post (Feb. 16) reported that the Forestry Ministry is planning to include oil palm estates to the forestry sector. Even though Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan denied the plan, an internal source at the ministry said that the decree is in progress (the Post, Feb. 23). This proposal...

The threat of climate change is now overwhelming the dialogue on forest policy. Forests, like other ecosystems, will be affected by temperature increase. But the dimension that is receiving much more attention is their role as a store for carbon. Forests hold more carbon than the atmosphere, and...

Indigenous leaders say that they support “in principle” proposals that aim to protect standing forests but said that they must not be pressured into make decisions without full understanding of the implications of such policies. “Recognizing that the indigenous peoples of Guyana are the...

Indigenous leaders are calling on government and international agencies to shelve policies related to projects like the LCDS, REDD+ until free, prior and informed consent guidelines for land use are in place.

The Office of Climate Change (OCC) last night described the objections by some indigenous leaders to the LCDS and REDD+ policies as “malicious misrepresentations and distortions” and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public on the two policies.